School board to consider closing 12 schools

Academics and community involvement would be considered

By JESSICA BLANCHARD, P-I REPORTER

Published
10:00 pm PST, Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Seattle Public Schools is considering closing 12 elementary, K-8 or alternative schools by 2007, a move the district hopes would save up to $5 million a year and help resolve its projected multimillion-dollar budget shortfalls.

Those targets, announced at a School Board meeting Wednesday, involve more schools than when the district first proposed closures last spring.

No specific schools were named. But the district has proposed closing two buildings in the northwest part of the city, three buildings in the northeast, three in the southwest and four in the southeast.

How much money is saved will hinge on which buildings are picked. The district has previously estimated that it could save $400,000 annually for each elementary school closed.

The board will vote on whether to approve those targets, as well as a set of criteria for selecting schools, at its March 15 meeting.

The School Board is in the process of selecting a 14-member citizens’ advisory committee to recommend which schools to close.

The members were to be appointed Wednesday, but the board delayed making appointments until a special meeting March 8, to allow it more time to review applications.

If the targets unveiled Wednesday are approved, the school-closure advisory committee would focus on closing and consolidating buildings to ensure elementary schools each have between 400 and 550 students.

The rationale is that larger enrollments allow schools to hire more workers, such as PE, art or music teachers, counselors and instructional coaches for the teachers.

As it is now, schools with fewer than 250 students can’t always afford “extras” such as full-time librarians and office assistants, unless they’re able to secure grants or other outside funding sources.

One of the biggest differences from last year’s failed school-closures proposal is the criteria that will likely be used to select schools.

Last year, the district considered concrete factors such as the condition and size of each school building, the size of their grounds and their proximity to other schools.

This time, the proposed criteria are less tangible but would include factors such as a school’s academic effectiveness and its connection with its community, both of which the district was heavily criticized for not including in last spring’s criteria.

The school-closures advisory committee would also be urged to concentrate on keeping schools that have more permanent classroom space in their buildings, as opposed to housing large numbers of students in portables.

The School Board announced in January that some school closures were necessary to help the district resolve projected multimillion-dollar budget shortfalls and boost academics around the district.

Closing schools will be difficult, but it is the right thing to do, said Sherry Carr, president of the Seattle Council PTA and a member of the high-powered superintendent’s advisory committee that earlier this year recommended closing schools.

“There (are) just so many empty seats. Empty seats cost money. 5 That money needs to be spent in the classroom,” she said.

In her role as PTA president, Carr is helping to set up community meetings to explain to parents why the schools need to be closed. She said she thought a number of the closures needed to take place at the elementary school level.

“It’s going to be hard because closing the schools is going to be an emotional and painful process, but I think we need to keep our eye on what can be,” she said. “We can have good schools if we’re willing to make some of these changes.”

Charles Rolland, whose son attends Summit K-12, said he’d rather see the district put forth a comprehensive plan that includes everything at once – school closures, program consolidations, busing changes, and other measures – rather than dealing with them separately.

“I’m just afraid that if we continue to piecemeal this whole thing.... we’re not putting our kids first,” said Rolland, who was active in forming an influential parents group after schools closures were first proposed.

He said he approved of addressing school closures by geographic area. His son’s school, Summit K-12, is an all-city draw, and he expects that “would be something that’s going to get looked at critically,” he said.

The school-closures committee is expected to begin meeting later this month, and provide recommendations to Superintendent Raj Manhas by early June.

The School Board plans to make a decision by late July, and any closures would be effective for the 2007-08 school year.